The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are proud to announce that defenseman Ryan Lannon has been named the team's winner of the American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Northeastern Pennsylvania community during the 2005-06 season.

Ryan "adopted" a second grade class at a local elementary school and goes to spend time with the students every other Tuesday. He participates in a reading program and spends quality time with students on an individual basis. Many of the students in the class are from low-income families, and very few of them are able to attend games on a regular basis. Ryan does his best to bring the team to them and provide a positive role model for the kids.

With the team in town for the Thanksgiving holiday, Ryan also came up with a plan to work with a local United Way agency - the Commission on Economic Opportunity (CEO) - to put together a full dinner for families that could not otherwise afford it. He spearheaded a food drive that raised enough money and collected enough food items to provide an entire Thanksgiving meal to more than 150 families. After the "to-go" meals were distributed to the needy families, he worked in the kitchen serving meals to people who were spending the holiday alone.

Keeping children's programs as his number one priority, Ryan has been the most active member in our team school visits, which promote health, safety and positive lifestyles. Through the Blue Cross Goals for Health Campaign, Ryan has had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of local school students on the importance of living responsibly, playing sports and leading an active and healthy lifestyle. Ryan also organized a team visit to a local hospital around the holidays to spend time with sick children who were unable to make it home for Christmas.

In recognition of his efforts, Lannon will be presented with an etched crystal trophy during an on-ice presentation prior to an upcoming Penguins home game.

Lannon is now one of 27 finalists for the AHL's 2005-06 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award, honoring the overall American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year. The league award is named after the former Hershey Bears forward and AHL All-Star who died in 1997 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. The winner of the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award will be announced later this month.

Mad City Mike wrote:That is fantastic, and for him to be nominated as a rookie speaks volumes to his commitment to these causes. I hope we someday see him in Pittsburgh so he can continue these efforts on a bigger scale.

I'd say the chances of his showing up in Pittsburgh are pretty high now, wouldn't you? I would love to see him there with Crosby & Army & the rest.

*They* say -

Lannon is a stay at home defensemen who keeps up with his opponent and keeps the slot clear for his goaltender.

B - Should reach potential, could drop 1 rating - likely to reach potential, but may have a hole or two in his game that will keep him from reaching his full potential. The potential rating is multiplied by 90 percent for depth chart purposes, which indicates slightly less certainty about a playerÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s future performance.

Is this where Gonchar might come in handy? He certainly helped with Orpiks game & keeping him out of the box. Somewhat.

I went to Wilkes-Barre on March 24th & 25th and was really impressed with Lannon's play. MUCH more physical than Scuderi and he had pretty decent wheels. Seemed to always make the smart, safe play - which is exactly his job description. He came over and was talking to some people we were at dinner with after one of the games and he was really humble and really tried to downplay how well he played that night.

BJL wrote:I went to Wilkes-Barre on March 24th & 25th and was really impressed with Lannon's play. MUCH more physical than Scuderi and he had pretty decent wheels. Seemed to always make the smart, safe play - which is exactly his job description. He came over and was talking to some people we were at dinner with after one of the games and he was really humble and really tried to downplay how well he played that night.

Aah, that's cool! I've talked to three people who've seen him in WBS too & they are all impressed & all wanting him up soon. So there has to be something to his game huh? They say he surprises you with his speed 'cuz he has bursts of it that are amazing.

We seem to have a TON of top flight AHL D-Men (Unfortunately some are playing with the Pens in the NHL in Pittsburgh ), but MANY of them are young and still developing.

Does anyone else have a feeling that if even a few of these guys reach heir full potential we could have one of the better defensive corps in the league in three/four years? Especially if we get lucky and get Johnson.

ExPatriatePen wrote:We seem to have a TON of top flight AHL D-Men (Unfortunately some are playing with the Pens in the NHL in Pittsburgh ), but MANY of them are young and still developing.

Does anyone else have a feeling that if even a few of these guys reach heir full potential we could have one of the better defensive corps in the league in three/four years? Especially if we get lucky and get Johnson.

I do but I've been accused...of being a bit of an optimist before now. This is narrow border optimism but yeah.
I would rather have Johnson over Kessel I think too. Don't ask me why I say that. It's that hunch/female intuition thing.